


when you love me back

by soupcleric



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Dragons, I don't like Rose can you tell, M/M, Minor Violence, Raihan is cursed and pining, Temporary Character Death, and also one of u is a dragon now? yeah, and they love you back, but you're both dense as hell and also stupid?, dont worry, very temporary, you know when you have a childhood friend you're horribly in love with
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-06
Updated: 2020-01-21
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:48:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22148962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soupcleric/pseuds/soupcleric
Summary: They knew each other, once. Raihan loved him, and Leon loved him back. Something always gets in the way of him saying it out loud, though.The one where Raihan is cursed to be a dragon by day, human by night and Leon is the prince offered as a sacrifice to appease him. Leon expects to die. Raihan has other plans.
Relationships: Dande | Leon/Kibana | Raihan
Comments: 78
Kudos: 771





	1. Chapter One

Leon, 12 years old and desperately in love, watches the boy in front of him with awe and pride.

Raihan was moving with power and grace despite his lanky body, dodging attacks from his older opponent with ease. The knight he was sparring with was getting frustrated, too, angry he was being bested by a 13-year-old. Raihan dodges neatly to the side, avoiding another attack that would have sliced through him had he not moved in time. Leon was starting to get worried, though he knew his friend would be fine.

He knew Raihan was a strong swordsman, knew Raihan was training to be the Champion, but he couldn’t help his nerves. He just wanted him to be safe.

Leon watched with bated breath as the knight’s attacks grew more aggressive with each turn. Raihan parried and blocked and dodged, but Leon could tell it was beginning to wear on him. He didn’t yet have the stamina of the older knight, and it was starting to show. 

Leon bites his tongue to keep from crying out as the sword arcs through the air and nearly slices through Raihan’s face. The smell of blood enters the arena and Leon sits forward in his seat, heart in his throat. Had Raihan gotten hurt? 

The two opponents pull away from each other, catching their breath, and Leon watches with horror as a thin line of blood trickles down from a nasty cut on Raihan’s brow. He brings his hand up and touches the wound gently, wincing slightly, and Leon is about to speak up, to demand that the match was over, that the knight had gone too far, when Raihan pulls his hand away and grins, sharp and dangerous.

The arena was very still for a long moment, everyone focused on the two knights in the center of the ring before Raihan lunges forward with an intensity Leon had yet to see from the other boy.

His opponent yelps in surprise as suddenly Raihan was on him, sword flashing through the air. Leon can’t help but gasp as Raihan simply...overwhelms the older knight with a barrage of attacks, deadly and graceful and absolutely  _ stunning _ .

The same thought occurs to Leon that occurs to everyone else in the arena. Raihan had been holding back before, hadn’t been truly using his full strength. Leon grips the edge of the bench he was sitting on and leans forward, unwilling to miss even a second of Raihan’s sure victory.

And what a victory it was.

The battle ends with the older knight disarmed and on his back, the tip of Raihan’s sword pressed neatly against his throat.

Leon rushes forward as Raihan steps back and sheathes his sword, practically tackling his friend in a giant hug. 

“That was amazing, Rai!” he gushes, beaming up at his surprised friend. “ _ You _ were amazing!”

Raihan laughs, his cheeks turning dark with blush, and Leon loves it, loves  _ him. _

“Not as amazing as you, Lee,” he mumbles awkwardly, never knowing how to take a compliment. “You would’ve disarmed him in a minute! I saw the way you fought earlier, you’re a right beast.”   
Now it’s Leon’s turn to blush and he pulls away, albeit somewhat reluctantly, to scratch at the back of his neck. 

“Thanks, Rai,” he laughs. “But I won’t let you get out of accepting my praise that easily!”

Raihan hides his smile behind a groan, but Leon sees it anyway.

He grabs Raihan by the hand and all but drags him in the direction of medical, chattering about how amazing his friend was the whole way there. By the time the two boys reach the healer’s tent, Raihan is thoroughly flustered and beet red. 

They hold hands the whole time, Leon giving Raihan a comforting squeeze while the nurse stitches up the cut above his eye and casts a simple healing spell over it. 

Raihan winces as the skin knits back together under her hand and when she’s done he touches it gingerly, feeling along the shiny new skin. 

“I closed the wound,” the nurse says, pulling away. “But unfortunately there’s nothing I can do about the scarring.” 

Raihan nods, looking a little disappointed and Leon gives his hand another squeeze as they both get up to leave. 

“Is it bad?” Raihan asks him, worriedly, when they’re out of earshot. 

Leon knows Raihan had always been self-conscious, especially about his face, though he usually hides it behind a thick layer of faked confidence, so Leon answers truthfully.

“I think you’re handsome,” Leon says, and can hear Raihan take a sharp breath at his words. “A little scarring isn’t going to change that. Plus,” he teases. “It makes you look more rugged.  _ Dangerous _ , even.”

Raihan stares at him, his blue eyes piercing through Leon like spears, and then he laughs loudly, flushing red high on his cheeks. 

“Are you saying I wasn’t dangerous before?” He snickers.

“No,” Leon starts to laugh as well. “I just was saying you didn’t  _ look _ dangerous.”

Raihan brings a hand to his chest in mock offense. 

“Oh, Prince Leon,” he gasps, teasing and light. “How could you say things that wound me so?”

“Come off it!” Leon laughs, smacking Raihan on the shoulder lightly. 

They laugh for a while, trading jokes back and forth, still holding hands until someone clears their throat behind them and Leon goes rigid.

He drops Raihan’s hand instantly and whips around, wincing a little when he catches sight of who had interrupted them.

Chairman Rose, main advisor to Leon’s father, the King. 

Rose glances between the two boys with an unreadable look before he turns to Leon.

“Prince Leon,” he says in his cold, hard voice. “Your father has fallen ill. Your presence is requested in his quarters immediately.”

Leon feels his stomach drop and he nods, shakily. Chairman Rose beckons him to follow as he turns away, heading towards the castle gates.

Leon glances at Raihan, and the other boy nods, looking stricken. 

“Go,” He tells Leon in a quiet voice. “I’ll be here.”

Leon swallows hard and nods as well, turning away to follow Chairman Rose to the castle. They walk in silence and right as they’re about to enter the main gates, Leon looks back over his shoulder, searching for one last look at his friend.

Raihan stands, little more than a figure in the distance, and lifts his hand in a wave.

Leon waves back, once, feeling strange and unbalanced.

Something was changing, and Leon’s unsure when he’ll get the chance to see Raihan again. The idea scares him more than he thought it would.

\----------

**11 years later**

Leon watches the dragon circle in the sky above him and feels….apprehensive.

He’s not nervous, per se, not like he thought he’d be at least. Leon was a prince and the Champion, first and foremost, and knew the importance of his duty- the importance of what he was doing today.

He was here to appease the dragon. A sacrifice.

About a year ago, rumors of a monster in the Glimwood Tangle had reached the ears of the kingdom. Knights had gone to investigate and had come back smoking and smoldering, speaking tales of a giant dragon that had taken residence at the abandoned Hammerlocke Tower in the mountains. 

The dragon hadn’t bothered them, not yet, but everyone was nervous. Fear permeated the air every time news of the dragon being spotted reached the town. 

So King Rose made the decision to act first. Their knights were strong but not strong enough to fight a dragon that large and win. Rose knew this. The knights knew this. Leon knew this.

It was decided that Leon would go as a sacrifice instead. His life to appease the beast.

As much as it scared Leon, he’d seen the terror that had taken over his people’s lives and knew it was for the best. It was his duty.

He hated that he had to remind himself of that.

The horse underneath him snorts in fear as the dragon passes over them, heading deeper into the Tangle to hunt.

Rose hums next to him, probably relieved that the dragon would be gone when they arrived. Leon was surprised the man was even here if he was honest. King Rose never really allowed himself to be put in any danger. He’d half expected the man to see him off at the castle gates. Leon was almost positive he was only here to make sure the prince didn’t end up running away.

Before Leon’s father had died, the old King had named Rose his successor, saying he trusted the man to do his people right. Leon had been too grief-stricken to see the signs back then, had been too busy taking care of his baby brother and mother to see what Rose was doing. 

Manipulation, a drop of poison here and there, and soon Rose had the Kingdom of Galar to himself. And Leon was next in line for the throne, so it only made sense that Rose would want him out of the way. The opportunity had presented itself in this dragon, and Rose took it. Now he wanted to see it through.

Leon allows himself a moment of anger, hot and vicious, before tucking it away deep in his chest.

The nervous atmosphere from the knights thickened the closer the party got to the dragon’s lair.

After a couple more minutes, Hammerlocke Tower came into view, standing proud and tall against the rocky landscape of the mountains. It was several stories high and covered in a thick, winding ivy. The smell of fire was strong but not overwhelming, almost like a large campfire that had recently been put out. Bones littered the scorched ground, bright white against the rocks.

There was no stench of death, Leon noted with slight surprise. The bones were completely clean, too, no hint of leftover or rotten meat at their ends.

_ Strange _ , he thinks. He keeps this information to himself.

Leon is the first to dismount, his feet hitting the ground with a decisive thunk.

One of the braver knights dismounts as well and glances at the prince worriedly.

“Are you ready, Your Highness?” the man asks, pulling a length of rope out of his bag.

Leon nods, not trusting his voice, and the guard swallows hard.

“There.” Rose points to an outcropping a little way from the entrance to the dragon’s lair. “Tie him to the rock.”

The knight nods, eyes sad, and leads Leon to where the King had pointed. He ties Leon’s wrists together and then wraps the rope around the rock methodically, making sure it wouldn’t come loose.

“I’m so sorry, my Prince.” the knight says softly, too low for Rose and the others to hear. “I wish there was another way.”   
Leon smiles sadly at him. He recognizes the man, distantly, as one of the few knights who had been outwardly kind to him and Raihan, back when the two of them were still young. Most knights had looked at the two of them with distaste, not liking how much better they were despite their age. It had grated on their nerves to be bested by teenagers, and though no one had said a word to Leon (as he was the prince and all), he knew that it had taken its toll on Raihan.

“As much as I wish the same,” Leon says, voice sure despite the fear and sadness and anger that battle within him. “This is what must be done. It is my duty.”

The knight nods slowly, not convinced, and steps back. Leon tests his bonds. They don’t budge, and he takes a deep breath.

“Go,” He warns the knight. “Before the dragon comes back.”

The man looks conflicted for a few seconds before he grabs Leon’s bound hands tightly.

“May Arceus watch over you.” He says, and Leon feels a little like crying.

The knight leaves without another word, heading back towards the King, who watches Leon with a sharp frown.

“Remember your duty, Prince.” He calls out, voice cold, before turning his horse away. Leon wants to laugh in his face. He’s spent his life remembering his duty, never had a break. Rose had always wanted Leon to be perfect and had made it clear he expected nothing less. 

Leon watches the group shrink into the distance before finally disappearing into the woods.

At least he’s finally free from royal duty, he thinks to himself.

The sky was heavy with clouds, the smell of rain just barely there behind the scent of fire and smoke. The sun was long gone, hidden behind the rainclouds that threatened a downpour in the near future. It felt fitting.

He’d never see the sun again.

The first drops of rain fall against his face and Leon shivers. A small part of him hopes the dragon comes back before he gets too cold. 

He waits, the rock pressing against his back painfully, the rain soaking him to the bone. He loses track of time rather quickly. The party had left the kingdom in the early morning, had planned to reach the tower by midday, so Leon supposes it must be early afternoon at the latest. 

He didn’t know how long it takes dragons to hunt. The dragon could be gone for days, for all he knows. He could die of cold and hunger before the dragon even returned, and then what good will he have been? Leon groans, frustrated, and tugs at his bonds. If only they’d tied him up inside the tower. At least then he’d be dry.

Knowing Rose he’d probably planned this. Leon snorts.

He’d never been a very patient person. Still, he has no choice but to wait.

Leon crosses his legs underneath himself and sits, sighing deeply.

His mind wanders, and he thinks about what his father would think of him now, his proud son nothing but a pawn for Rose to use however he pleased. At least Leon had become Champion, right? His father would’ve been proud of that, at least. 

_ Not that it was that hard after Raihan left _ , his brain tells him, mean and spiteful and oh-so-true. Leon leans his head back against the hard rock and closes his eyes, feeling the rain hit his face and plaster his clothes to his skin. Not for the first time, Leon thinks of Raihan.

There’s a 14-year-old boy inside of Leon that misses his friend desperately, that wishes he could turn back time to see him one more time. The 23-year-old Leon knows this is impossible, that Raihan’s most likely dead, and even if he wasn’t, he would probably hate Leon’s guts anyway. They hadn’t parted on good terms. Leon forces away memories of Raihan and their last meeting as the sound of beating wings alerts him to the dragon’s return.

A nervous fear settles itself in the pit of his stomach. Unconsciously, he presses himself closer against the rock and watches as a large shape flies down from the grey sky and circles the tower. Leon feels his jaw drop a little.

The dragon was  _ huge _ and beautiful in a dangerous way. Sinewy muscles bulged and bunched as the dragon touched down near the entrance, its large wings folding up neatly against its back. It shakes itself, iridescent dark blue scales shimmering in the rain. Its crest and horns were bright orange, while its underbelly was a light golden color. It holds in its mouth a large boar, which Leon guesses had been its prey this morning.

The dragon drops its meal on the ground and shakes itself again, huffing out a small puff of smoke. A long tongue licks out of its mouth and cleans the blood off its sharp teeth. Leon can’t keep himself from gasping at the sight, and the dragon’s head snaps towards his direction at the noise.

A low growl erupts from deep within the dragon’s chest and it roars, shaking the ground. Leon yelps in fear and presses back farther against the rock. The dragon stalks forward, baring its teeth at Leon, dangerous and beautiful and  _ oh god he’s going to die- _

_ This is it _ , Leon closes his eyes, curling in on himself.  _ This is it. _

He expects sharp teeth, or fire, or claws, or anything, but nothing happens for a very long time. Hot breath puffs against Leon’s skin and he flinches, but besides that, the dragon doesn’t do anything. Leon cracks an eye open and jumps at how close the beast had gotten, making a rather undignified noise. The dragon was right in front of him, peering at him in shock and surprise with bright, icy blue eyes. Leon shivers and stares at the dragon, its eyes reminding him of-

Its mouth opens, the long, sharp teeth even more intimidating up close, and Leon nearly jumps out of his skin when it….clears its throat?

“What are you doing here?” The dragon asks in a deep, raspy voice. It was clear that it hadn’t spoken in a long time. Leon swallows hard, terrified. 

“I am Leon, Prince of the Kingdom of Galar,” he says, voice smaller than he wanted it to be. 

“That does not answer my question, Prince of Galar.” the dragon rasps, its breath hot and humid against Leon’s skin.

“I am Leon, Prince of the Kingdom of Galar,” He repeats again, voice not wavering this time as he continues. “I am here as a sacrifice, to appease you, and to try and convince you not to attack our lands.”

The dragon stares at him, unreadable, for a very long time. Leon has to fight the urge to squirm under the dragon’s piercing stare, wanting to seem strong and determined. He did not feel strong  _ or _ determined, but the dragon didn’t have to know that. 

“You are a sacrifice to appease me?” The dragon asks, head moving to peer at Leon closer. “Why?”

Leon swallows at the closeness but he can’t move any farther away, not with the rock already pressed against the planes of his back.

“My people are….scared.” He says slowly, unsure. “They want to be sure you won’t attack their villages and farms. The King decided I was the best candidate to go.” 

Leon hated calling Rose the King.

The dragon snorts out a puff of smoke and pulls back its mighty head, accepting Leon’s answer.

He shivers, the rain finally getting to him. Leon was freezing, his teeth chattering violently in his jaw as he pulls his knees to his chest to try and keep warm. The dragon looks at him for another moment before it extends a single claw in his direction. Leon fights the urge to flinch back as it approaches, but instead of gutting him right then and there as Leon had thought it would, the claw slices through the thick ropes with ease, freeing him.

The dragon then grabs Leon by the back of his shirt with the same claw and lifts him off the ground. Leon yelps loudly and grabs onto the dragon’s hand in order to anchor himself as the creature begins to move towards the tower entrance. 

He’s dropped rather unceremoniously on the ground inside the tower as the dragon moves farther in, shooting a short burst of flame at a pile of wood in the center of the room. The fire roars to life almost instantly, warmth rushing into the room and chasing away the cold. Leon, keeping an eye on the dragon, inches as close to the fire as he humanly could, shivering violently. 

He feels the dragon’s eyes on him as he warms his bones and sniffles. He’d been out in the cold rain too long, could already feel himself getting sick.

The dragon comes closer, stopping when it sees Leon move away in return.

“There are blankets in the corner,” it says gruffly, indicating with a jerk of its head. “You should remove your wet clothes and try to warm up.”

Leon stares at the dragon, confused.

“Are you not going to eat me?” he asks after a minute.

“No,” the dragon snorts, baring its teeth in a vicious smile. “Sick meat always tastes worse than healthy meat.”

Leon shivers, though this time it wasn’t because of the cold. 

“Sleep,” The dragon rumbles, curling up across the fire. “You will need your rest.”

Leon all but collapses into the pile of blankets he drags closer to the fire, more exhausted now than he’d ever felt in his life, and slips into unconsciousness.

He dreams of icy blue eyes and an all-encompassing warmth.

\----------

He gets sick, because of course he does. He wakes up to a cool cloth on the upper half of his face, obscuring his eyes, and the sound of someone humming softly nearby. He’s delirious with fever, so it doesn’t occur to him how strange this is. Someone is sitting next to him, soft fingers brushing the hair out of his face, and Leon groans. The hands disappear quickly, the person pulling away in surprise. Leon groans again, attempting to sit up, but a strong hand on his chest pushes him back down. 

“Don’t move yet,” a man’s voice speaks, low and rumbly. “You’re still sick.”

“‘M fine.” Leon’s words slur a little, giving away how not fine he actually was. “Who’re you?”

The man guides Leon back down into a lying position before answering.

“My name doesn’t matter.” He says, voice hard, hand still warm against Leon’s chest. 

Leon frowns at the mysterious answer, something twinge-ing in his chest, but a thought occurs to him before he has time to press.   
“Where is the dragon?” he asks, worry seeping into his tone. 

The man stills slightly.

“He’s not here right now,” He answers after a bit, picking his words carefully. “Don’t worry.”

Leon relaxes for a second before tensing up again. 

“You need to leave!” He cries out, grasping at the man’s hand tightly. “It could come back any second and you-”

“It’s okay,” The man soothes Leon in a soft voice, placing his hand on top of his gently. “He and I are….friends.” 

Leon feels himself still in surprise, his grip loosening on the man’s wrist. 

“Friends…?” He says slowly, brain taking way to long to catch up with him. Everything was hazy, hard to parse due to his fever, and the idea of being friends with a giant terrifying dragon wasn’t as strange as Leon might have thought it was before. The image of the dragon flashes in his head, beautiful and dangerous, and Leon shivers. 

“Yeah,” The man confirms, pulling the blankets back up over Leon’s shoulders, mistaking his shivers as being from the cold. “We go back quite a bit.”

Leon lets out a shaky breath and feels the weight of exhaustion wash over him now that he’s horizontal again. He feels himself start to slip back into unconsciousness and mumbles out one last thing.

“I don’t want to be eaten,” he mumbles, curling into a ball. “Can you tell him that for me? I don’t want to die.”    
If the man replies, Leon doesn’t hear it. He’s asleep before he finishes his sentence.

He dreams fitfully for Arceus knows how long, awakening a couple of times, sometimes alone, sometimes in the presence of the man from before. The man will press a cup to his lips, cool relief in the form of fresh water slipping down his throat. Leon’s near delirious each time, doesn’t remember much except for how warm the man is, how much Leon wants to ask him to come closer, to chase the cold away with his touch. He doesn’t, of course, but he gets the feeling the man already knows.

Each time he wakes, there’s a cloth covering his eyes, cool and damp. Leon tries to remove it, once, but the man grabs his wrist tightly and growls out a strained  _ don’t touch _ .

Leon doesn’t try again.

His fever breaks, eventually. Leon is barely conscious when it does, but he feels warm fingers press against his forehead and a soft sigh of relief. 

“Go to sleep, prince.” The man says, quiet and tired, and Leon does.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> who doesn't love a little bit of a sick fic?  
> so this fic is titled "oh my GODDDDD" in my google drive because i sat down two days ago with an idea and pumped it all out in one sitting. 17k of fantasy madness so gay it made my computer lag whenever i tried to write it down. i hope u liked it so far hehe i'll be posting chapter 2 soon!  
> follow me on tweeter @basilwizard for more of my Bull Shit and gay thoughts about how sexy raihan is


	2. Chapter Two

Leon awakens to birds singing, the storm from before long over. It’s about midday, light streaming in through the windows, and he feels like shit. His head pounds and his mouth tastes awful. He groans lowly, sitting up from the pile of blankets to glance around.

He’s alone, he notes with some disappointment. Neither the dragon nor his mysterious friend was anywhere in sight. Curiously, though, a small plate of food and a cup of water was on the floor to his left. Though it had long lost its heat, Leon eats gratefully, glad to get both food in his stomach and the awful taste of illness out of his mouth. 

He stands slowly, back cracking from his night on the ground, and he carefully surveys the room he’s in. Leon hadn’t had a chance to look around the night before, what with the darkness and all, and was curious. 

Hammerlocke Tower had been an outpost for about 40 years before it was abandoned during Leon’s childhood. Something about the surrounding lands being too dangerous to be hospitable, according to the King. Since then, it had faded into obscurity, no one really paying attention to it until the dragon was spotted almost a year ago. Something tells Leon the dragon had been here for much longer, though, if the state of the tower was anything to go by. Despite being abandoned for almost 20 years, it was in amazing shape, the walls sturdy and well taken care of. Only a few windows were broken, but they had been boarded up with wood to keep the inside warmer. It was a rather large room and all the furniture that Leon had come to recognize as guard tower staples had been roughly pushed to the edges, allowing for a large fire in the center of the room. 

In the northeast corner of the tower, a small kitchen sat, showing signs of recent use.  _ Must be where my lunch was from _ , Leon muses, checking the cabinets. Much to his surprise, there was food there, not a whole lot, but enough for one person. There was even an icebox with some vegetables and expertly cut chunks of raw meat inside. He frowns, confused. What need did a dragon have for vegetables and butchered meat? A large table with chairs was nearby, but the furniture was covered in a layer of dust. Whoever used the kitchen had no need for the table, most likely didn’t have anyone to share their meals with, and that made Leon sad. He wonders if the man from when he was sick was the one to eat here, or if the dragon had other friends as well. He stops he search suddenly, memories washing over him.

_ That man _ , he thinks, turning the encounter over in his mind. Had last night been a dream? It seemed so strange in retrospect, and he’d never actually seen the other man. Who was he? And why had he helped Leon? He blushes slightly, remembering the warmth the other man had radiated and fights down the part of him that wonders if he’ll see the other man again, the part that  _ wants _ to see him again.

He’s exhausted all his energy by his short search, so Leon goes back to the pile of blankets by the fire and falls into a fitful sleep once more.

The next time he wakes up, its to the dragon sniffing him. Leon jumps and yelps in surprise, the dragon pulling away at his reaction. 

They stare at each other for a second, Leon’s chest heaving as he takes deep, gulping breaths to try and calm himself.

“Sorry for scaring you,” the dragon says, an amused lilt to its voice.

Leon flinches, startled, and stares at the dragon in dumbfounded silence. Did it just apologize to him?

“How are you feeling?” it asks, tilting its head slightly to the left. “You were quite ill.”

“I feel...better,” Leon replies carefully, unsure why the dragon was asking. “Though I’m very tired and feel...rather weak.”

The dragon nods.

“That’s no surprise,” it hums. “You were out for four days.”

Leon feels the breath get knocked out of him.

“ _Four_ _days_?” he squeaks out, horrified.

The dragon snorts out a laugh and moves away from Leon, turning to drag a large deer into the tower.

“Do you know how to butcher?” The dragon asks, changing the subject with its mouth full of deer hide.

Leon nods haltingly, still a little faint from the news he’d been sick for so long.

“Good,” it says, looking pleased. “There’s a knife you can use in the kitchen drawer.”

Leon doesn’t move for a long moment, and the dragon just watches him. Leon has a feeling that if the dragon had eyebrows, one of them would be raised right now.

“Well, go on,” it says after a bit, a little annoyed at Leon’s prolonged silence. “I can’t do it myself, you know.”

Leon gulps and scurries to the kitchen. As the dragon said, there’s a drawer full of differently shaped cooking knives. After a bit of digging, he comes across a good one for butchery and steels himself to approach the dragon.

It snaps at his heels as he gets close and Leon yelps.

“Hurry,” the dragon scolds him. “Before it starts to turn.”

Leon’s hands shake as he starts to cut into the flesh of the deer. He works carefully, methodically, and before long, the dragon stops him.

“That’s enough,” it rumbles, and Leon freezes as it pads closer. “Take what you’ve done to the icebox.”

Leon nods and gathers everything up, doing as the dragon says. He makes the mistake of glancing over his shoulder and watches in horror as the creature snaps up the rest of the carcass with ease, sharp teeth crushing bone with little resistance. It’s both fascinating and sickening, watching the dragon eat. Leon hurriedly turns away.

He washes his bloodstained hands in the sink, marveling thankfully at how an abandoned tower could still have running water. 

The dragon finishes eating and stretches its limbs with a low rumble, starting to groom its scales. Leon watches curiously out of the corner of his eye.

As scared as he was, Leon had to admit that the dragon fascinated him. As Prince, he’d never had a chance to leave the Kingdom, so magical creature sightings were pretty rare. He’d heard tales of many creatures, of all shapes and sizes, and had always wanted to see one.

Too bad this dragon would be his first  _ and _ last magical creature. He takes a deep breath and makes his way over to the fire again, sitting back down in the pile of blankets.

“You can sleep upstairs,” The dragon rumbles after a quiet moment as the sun starts to set. “There are beds on the second and third floor.”

“Where do you sleep?” Leon asks, curious.

The dragon stills, just barely enough for Leon to notice, before it goes back to grooming itself. 

“I have little need for sleep,” It says, pulling at a twig that had gotten lodged in its underbelly plates. “I watch over the tower at night in a place where people cannot see me.”

Leon frowns. 

“You leave at night?”   
The dragon nods, glancing over at him.

“Is this a problem?”

_ Yes, _ Leon wants to say.  _ I’ve spent my life surrounded by people for a reason. _ He didn’t like being alone, but that sounded weak and pathetic, even to himself, so Leon bites his tongue and shakes his head no.

_ You’ll be fine _ , he tells himself harshly.  _ You’re 23 years old and worrying about spending the night by yourself? Grow up. _

The late afternoon sun dips below the horizon and after a moment of silence, the dragon moves to leave. 

“Eat when you can,” It tells him as it goes. “It’ll build your strength. You’ll find what you need in the kitchen.”

“Why are you telling me to eat?” Leon frowns, confused. “Aren’t you going to eat  _ me _ ?”

The dragon swings its large head around to look at him, looking rather unimpressed.

“Do you want me to eat you?” it asks, the barest hint of a threat in its voice. Leon steps back on pure instinct, fear flooding his system.

“N-No,” He stammers.

The dragon says nothing for a long while, merely watches him with those bright blue eyes and Leon squirms under the intensity of it.

“I haven’t decided yet,” is all it says as it turns back towards the outside.

Leon follows it out of the main entrance and into the courtyard, bathed in the last rays of the sun’s light. It turns to him one last time, sharp eyes trained on Leon and it snorts out a puff of smoke.

“Goodnight, Leon." It says, and takes off. Leon watches in awe as muscles bunch and the dragon launches itself straight into the air, wings unfurling to catch the mountain updraft. Soon the creature is nothing more than a dot in the sky and Leon sighs.

“Goodnight, dragon.” he murmurs, and goes inside.

The night passes slowly while Leon makes his dinner. It ends up bland and tasteless, Leon’s lack of skill evident in the chewy meat and undercooked vegetables.

He eats it all anyway, knowing the dragon was right about him building up his strength- even if getting his strength back meant that the dragon would finally eat him.

Leon shakes his head and continues his search from earlier, noticing a set of stairs in another corner.

_ Must lead to the bedrooms _ , he remembers the dragon saying something about sleeping quarters earlier in the day. He finds a few candles in the kitchen cabinets and decides to explore.

After a quick test, Leon deduces that the stairs weren’t going to give out under him, which was a good sign. He climbs them carefully anyway, still not willing to take a chance. 

The second floor of Hammerlocke Tower housed small but cozy-looking beds, just as the dragon had promised. One of them was visibly used, though, which caught Leon by surprise. An old quilt covered the bed closest to the stairs, dark blue squares and orange stars decorating the fabric. It was well-loved, Leon noted, running his fingers along the edge of a mended tear, stitched back together with a practiced hand.  _ Funny, _ he thinks.  _ These are the same color as the dragon. _

He moves further into the room, all the other beds neatly made and covered by a thick layer of dust. A rusted shield bearing the crest of Galar hangs from the wall.

Leon stops in front of it and almost wants to laugh, wants to yell, all the frustrations of being the prince building up in his chest at the sight as he clenches his fists in front of a stupid shield of all things. Instead, he starts to cry, hot, wet tears rolling down his cheeks as he stares angrily at the crest. 

He’d spent his whole life trying to be the best he could be for his people and for what? To be thrown aside to appease a dragon? To be forgotten? 

Leon thinks of his brother, Hop, still stuck at the castle, and feels a horrible sadness wash over him, dousing his anger almost instantly. Hop had fought against Leon’s fate from the beginning, had raged against Rose for even suggesting it, but he was ultimately overruled by the King’s word. That night, Hop had cried into Leon’s arms for  _ hours _ , horrified that despite everything he could do nothing to help his brother. Leon remembered the heartbroken look on his brother’s face as he’d left the castle for last time.

Leon doesn’t cry often, hadn’t really let himself feel anything since Rose’s personal advisor Oleana had informed him that he was to be sent to the dragon as a sacrifice two months ago. It all surges out of him now and he falls to his knees, a harsh sob ripping itself from his throat. He grips at his hair and, for the first time in a long time, lets himself  _ feel. _

It takes a while, but eventually, Leon calms down, his hiccuping sobs slowing until they were no more. He wipes at his face and continues to stand in front of the shield until his knees ache.

He shifts, slowly, and moves further into the room. Just around the corner from the shield was a doorway. Leon tries the handle and finds it unlocked. He peers inside and is surprised to find a medium-sized room with three large tubs set into the floor.  _ This must be the bathroom _ , Leon notes with relief. He did feel rather grimy from his four-day fever, not to mention the butchering job from earlier. A bath sounded heavenly.

He tests the taps in one of the baths and is delighted when a fountain of hot water comes rushing out immediately. Leon strips down quickly, removing and folding his clothes into a neat pile at the edge of the room. He places the candle down as well, and its flickering light chases away the shadows.

He slips into the bath and nearly whines in relief, the tension in his shoulders melting away with the heat. He quickly washes and then proceeds to stay in the bath until the air turns chilly and the water lukewarm. With a sigh, he pulls himself out of the water and searches for a towel, shivering in the night air. He finds a couple stashed in the corner of the room and shakes it out before drying off. He takes one look at his dirty clothes and decides to hunt for new ones, stepping back into the sleeping quarters and looking around. He spots potential in the wardrobe pushed into the corner of the room and is relieved to find clean clothes hanging inside. He changes quickly into fresh underwear and a loose white shirt that was a little long for him, forgoing pants completely so he could sleep comfortably. 

Leon makes a decision he hopes he won’t regret and curls up in the bed with the quilt on it, not wanting to have to search for a clean bed among the dust. The sheets were soft and the quilt heavy, trapping the warmth of his body in the bed with him. Leon puts out the candle and yawns, blinking slowly in the sudden darkness of the room. 

Despite the severity of his situation, he felt calm, safe even.

The dragon could change its mind at any moment, could decide that Leon was better off in its stomach, and Leon knew this. But for tonight, he was clean, healthy, and sleeping in a real bed. He knew the dragon was out there somewhere, but he also knew that it was protecting the tower. And that meant it was protecting him, too.

He drifts off, his breathing evening out slowly, and dreams.

\--------

“C’mon!” Raihan shouts, laughing as he pulls Leon deeper into Glimwood Tangle.

“Raihan!” Leon stumbles a bit, glancing around nervously. “We’re not supposed to be in here!”   
“Don’t be such a scaredy-cat, Lee,” the 14-year-old sings, teasing him lightly. “We’re almost there.”

Leon grumbles but follows after Raihan anyway. The older boy had promised him something Leon would ‘never forget,’ and despite the fear of getting lost, he trusted his friend whole-heartedly. Plus, Leon was 13 now and well on his way to becoming Galar’s Champion, he shouldn’t be scared of anything, right? Raihan continues to pull him forward and Leon lets him, following along and feeling a little bit like a lovesick puppy. 

Ever since his father had passed on and Rose had become King, Leon had been busier and busier, barely getting time to practice his swordsmanship, much less hang out with Raihan, and it had worn on him. He hadn’t realized how much he relied on the other’s easy smiles and teasing laugh until he could barely see them. Raihan acted normally enough, but Leon could tell the other boy was tired. His smiles weren’t as easy anymore, and it bothered Leon to no end. He wishes the other boy was happy, and knew it was his fault that he wasn’t- It’s part of the reason why Leon was even here right now. He wanted to make Raihan happy again, and if that meant shirking his duties to spend a day in Glimwood Tangle than he would happily do it.

Raihan slows to a stop and turns to face Leon with a mighty grin. 

“Close your eyes, prince.” Raihan teases, knowing how Leon blushes when he uses honorifics. 

Leon turns red and does as he’s told, jumping a little when he feels Raihan’s hand cover his eyes as an extra measure.

“They’re closed!” Leon complains despite liking the warmth it brings across his cheeks. Raihan just laughs and places the palm of his hand against Leon’s lower back, guiding him forward carefully. Leon suppresses a shiver, Raihan close to his side. A low rumbling builds in his ears the farther they walk and Leon wonders what it is they’re going to see.

“It’s kind of a step here,” the older boy murmurs, helping Leon up with a steady hand. “That’s it. Almost there- Good. Okay, we’re here.”

He feels Raihan pull away slightly, removing his hand from Leon’s face but keeping the one against his back steady.

Leon takes a deep breath, opens his eyes, and gasps. They stood before a small outcropping of rock that hangs over a deep ravine covered in all sorts of beautiful plants and flowers. The rumbling from earlier was a waterfall, not too far away, that spills violently downwards into the water below. On the other side of the ravine lay distant mountains, barely visible over the trees, but there none the less. 

A small basket and blanket sat on the rocks and Leon stares at scene, mouth agape.

“Well?” he hears Raihan shift beside him, nervousness in his posture and in his tone. “What do you think?”

“Oh, Arceus, Raihan,” Leon breathes, still taking everything in. “It’s beautiful.”

“Yeah,” he hears the older boy whisper. “You are.”

They both go very still, Raihan turning deep red in embarrassment as he realizes his slip up.

“I-I mean-” He stuttered out, eyes wide, and Leon can’t help but break off into peals of laughter at their situation.

“Don’t laugh, Lee,” Raihan pleads, his blush spreading down his neck, and Leon thinks then that his best friend is the most beautiful person in the world. 

Leon can’t help but reach forward and grab Raihan’s face in his hands to pull him closer. The other boy goes very still under his touch but lets Leon bring his head down to a lower height anyway, his breathing shallow and quick. 

“Do you love me?” Leon asks, quiet and simple.

Raihan stares at him, his bright blue eyes wide and nervous and more scared than Leon had ever seen him before.

“Yes,” he breathes out, shaky, and Leon grins, feeling more confident about this than he’s felt about anything else in his life.

His kisses Raihan then, presses their lips together, years of pining, of wishing and hoping all leading up to the first moment their lips meet and Leon feels like he’s floating, feels like he’s made of light.

Raihan’s fingers catch in Leon’s hair, gentle and loving and they both pull back at the same time, staring at each other with nothing but warmth and love in their eyes.

“Do  _ you _ love me?” Raihan whispers, and there’s so much hope in his voice that Leon  _ aches _ . Curse him for making Raihan wait this long.

The memory warps slightly, changing, souring in Leon’s mouth.

“No.” He says, and Raihan jerks back like Leon had burned him. 

“W-What?” Raihan grabs his hands desperately, his fingers hot and shaking against Leon’s wrists. “What do you mean?”

They’re in the castle courtyard now and its almost dark, the sun’s rays casting harsh shadows across Leon’s face as he forces his expression into something cold.

“I don’t love you.” He sneers, voice cruel and hard. “I never loved you.”

Raihan stares at him, horrified.

“Y-You’re lying!” He cries out, grabbing Leon by the shoulders and shaking him weakly. “Why are you lying?!” 

Leon shoves him away, schooling his features into one of anger. 

“Why would I lie about this, Raihan?” he snarls, vicious with his words. “I could never love someone like you- I’m a prince, you’re just a lowly knight. I only let you hang around ‘cause you were  _ desperate _ . I  _ hate _ you, Raihan, and I never want to see you again.”

Leon watches as Raihan’s expression  _ breaks _ , tears falling as he stands there and endures what Leon was throwing at him. He watches as Raihan’s bright blue eyes turn dull and unfocused and feels like throwing up.

“Fine,” Raihan whispers, and he’s expressionless now, monotone, though tears still track down his cheeks. “I’ll go.” 

Leon says nothing, can’t bring himself to push this any further, and for a long moment, Raihan just looks at him, waiting. The air is tense and raw with emotion, and he wants to drop to his knees, to cry and grab Raihan’s hands and beg for forgiveness, but Leon says nothing. 

The dream shifts once more.

Raihan’s standing at the edge of the Tangle, his back to the woods behind him. The setting sun casts long shadows that seem to reach for him, to almost….wrap around his small frame. The trees curl towards him, reaching with long branches that threaten to scratch and tear and hurt.

Leon tries to scream, tries to warn him that the Tangle was dangerous, that he shouldn’t go in there alone, but his voice is stuck in his throat and no words come out. 

The Glimwood Tangle swallows Raihan whole.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hee hoo  
> chapter 2 is up!  
> i hope u enjoy it and thank u all for ur kind comments on the first chapter, it rly means a lot! i'm so bad at responding lmfao  
> remember that u can follow me on twitter at @ basilwizard for more of my shenanigans


	3. Chapter Three

Leon wakes up with a scream.

His heart races in his chest and he sits up in bed with a start. He’s covered in a thin layer of sweat, the sheets tangled up around his legs and he’s gripping the blue and orange quilt like a lifeline. He swallows past the lump in his throat and runs a hand through his hair to ground himself. 

He hates that nightmare the most. 

It always starts out with that sweet memory of their day in the Tangle, lulls him into a false sense of peacefulness, and by the time he realizes that it’s not a memory but a nightmare, it’s too late and he can’t pull himself out. Leon groans in frustration and buries his head in his hands. He hasn’t had the nightmare in a couple of years, either, so it felt like all of his old wounds had suddenly been reopened rather violently.

Movement catches his eye and he sees the dragon poke its head up through the stairs, eyes flashing.

“What’s going on?” it growls, eyes glancing around the room rapidly, looking for danger. “I heard you scream.”

Leon notices he’s shaking, ever so slightly. 

“I-It’s nothing,” he mumbles weakly, staring down at the quilt in embarrassment. “Just a bad dream. Sorry to disturb you.”

The dragon looks at him for a long moment before it leans forward and sniffs him.

“Wh-” Leon starts, but the dragon cuts him off.

“You’re angry,” it notes, pulling back. “And scared.”

Leon laughs sharply at that, surprised by the accuracy of the observation.

“Yeah, no shit.” He snaps at it, crossing his arms defensively. The dragon brings its head down to Leon’s height, icy blue eyes meeting golden ones.

The dragon seems annoyed at his response, snapping its jaws lightly.

“Don’t be mad at me,” it grumbles. “I haven’t even done anything.”

Leon deflates immediately, bringing a hand up to rub at his face in frustration.

“You’re right,” he sighs, looking down again. “I’m sorry for being upset.”

The dragon tilts his head, surprised by Leon’s apology.

“Being upset is not something you have to apologize for,” it says after a second, still grumbling a little. “Just don’t take it out on me.”

Leon nods, feeling awkward as the dragon continues to look at him with those piercing blue eyes. 

“Can you smell emotions or something?” He asks, tired of the silence as he slowly starts the process of getting out of bed.

“Not quite,” it rumbles. “I have an excellent sense of smell, even for dragons, but even I can’t smell something intangible. When a creature feels a certain emotion, their body works in a specific way, whether that be by producing a new chemical, or sweating more, or any number of things. Most humans have different scents, so it takes a bit to figure out what each emotion smells like for each individual.”

“What’s my scent?” Leon asks, fascinated even as he pulls on pants and tucks in his shirt.

The dragon shakes its head. 

“I cannot describe it to you in a way you would understand, but it is unique.”

Leon purses his lips, a little disappointed. He was curious.

“Unique how?” He presses, sliding on his boots and standing up. 

The dragon huffs and leans forward, its muzzle mere inches away from Leon’s face, taking a deep breath.

Leon feels a shiver go through him as he attempts to hold still.

“It is like everything all at once,” the dragon says, pulling away. “Like I am standing on the peak of a mountain and you are all around me, the air, the clouds, the wind, the mountain itself. It is both good and bad, fearful and confident, lovely and terrible. You give me the feeling that I am diving into something deep and complicated, but not necessarily bad.”

Leon swallows, shocked. 

“It is unique.” The dragon says and removes its head from the stairwell. “Come eat.”

  
\-------  
  


“So,” Leon says, later in the afternoon. “Are you going to eat me or not?”

The dragon snorts, turning its massive head to look at Leon. 

“For someone who doesn’t want to die, you sure are asking about it a lot.”

Leon frowns, crossing his arms over his chest and refuses to say anything.

“Don’t worry,” the dragon says, turning away from Leon to stare into the fire. “My...friend told me about your request.”

Leon winces, thinking back to his request of the man who’d taken care of him while he’d been sick. It was rather embarrassing now that the dragon brought it up, but in Leon’s defense, he’d had a pretty serious fever at the time.

“I’m not going to eat you,” it flashes its teeth at him in what Leon supposes is a smile. “You’re safe here.”

Much like a dog, the dragon circles a couple of times before finally lying down next to the roaring blaze. Leon watches him in shock, the dragon’s words bouncing around his skull like a ball. The dragon... _ wasn’t _ going to eat him?

It glances at him and grins, rows of razor-sharp teeth revealing themselves to Leon.

“What?” it asks him, a hint of humor in its voice. “Dragon got your tongue?”

Leon flushes bright red in embarrassment. 

“T-Thank you.” He stammers out, sitting down by the fire as well.

The dragon watches him, and Leon watches the fire, determinedly not looking at the powerful creature across from him, no matter how much he wanted too. 

“So, Prince Leon of Galar,” The dragon speaks, deep and rumbling. “Why are you the sacrifice, and not some beautiful maiden from the village?”

Leon flinches at the question.

"That’s very rude,” he says instead of answering, glaring at the embers.

The dragon tilts its head, still staring.

“Sorry,” it says. “I’m not used to having real conversations. Most people run away before I can open my mouth.”

There’s something incredibly sad about what the dragon says, and it tugs at Leon’s chest. 

“You must be lonely.” He says, glancing up.

The dragon shrugs about as much as it could, which strikes Leon as a very human gesture.  _ This is a very strange dragon, _ he notes. He doesn’t press, though, going back to stare at the fire instead.

They lapse into silence again, this one is much less awkward, and it takes a minute or two for Leon to speak up.

“I’m here because it’s my duty,” he says slowly. “And because the  _ King _ has decided that I am no longer useful to him.” He spits out Rose’s honorific, the word leaving an awful taste in his mouth. Rose was no king.

The dragon stays silent, letting Leon formulate his words. 

“Since I was ten, he has ruled my life. Every waking moment was scheduled, every interaction scripted, every movement controlled. Recently, I started too...rebel, of sorts. Not in any major way, of course. But I started to tell him ‘No,’ stopped following his script, forged my own friendships with the people that surrounded me. He hated it. So he got rid of me.”

Leon wraps his arms around his legs and lays his head on his knees, still staring at the fire. He was being vague with his backstory, but the dragon didn’t need to know all the details anyway. It’s fine.

“I tell myself I came here to fulfill my duty to my people, but I think I was being a little selfish too.” Leon murmurs. “I wanted to be away from Rose, from the responsibilities and the Kingdom, and if being sacrificed to a dragon was the only way to do it, then so be it.”

Leon sighs and shakes his head, smiling a little at how morose he sounded.

“That came out bad. Don’t get me wrong, I very much am thankful you don’t want to eat me.”

“I don’t eat people anyway,” The dragon huffs, watching him through the flickering fire. “It’s not my style.”

Leon peers up at him, curious. 

“What is your style, then?”   


“My style?” The dragon hums softly, and something about it seems familiar. Before Leon can think about it too hard though, the dragon speaks. “It’s more saving handsome princes from shitty kings than eating them, I’d like to think.”

It’s spoken with humor, but something in Leon shifts and he turns a deep red.  _ Handsome princes? _

The dragon is laughing, he realizes belatedly, but it doesn’t bother him as much as it had before. 

It’s a nice sound, Leon thinks. He could get used to it.

“You make it sound like you’ve done this before,” he observes after the dragon had quieted down, a small smile gracing his face.

The dragon shakes its head, a sly look in his eye

“Nah,” it says, grinning. “You’re my first.”

If Leon could blush deeper, he would. 

“W-Well,” he stutters out, looking away, attempting to save face. “Thank you anyway.”

The dragon just laughs again. 

They fall back into a comfortable silence after that, not really needing to talk. Leon marvels at how much had changed in a week or so, hadn’t even imagined that this could be a possibility back at the castle. He’d been so scared only yesterday, but with the dragon’s promise to keep him safe, he let himself relax. He didn’t even know who this dragon was, but he trusted it. 

Something about it seemed familiar, but Leon couldn’t quite place it. Its eyes, maybe? Leon glanced at the dragon and was surprised to see the creature watching him back.

Before he could ask, though, the dragon speaks.

“I have to leave soon.” It says, a hint of disappointment in its voice as it begins to stand up. “It’s almost sunset. I have...things I must attend too.”

“Oh,” Leon breathes out, shoulder slumping slightly. He really didn’t want to be alone another night.

The dragon looks at Leon for a long moment before it sighs. 

“If it’d make you feel better,” It starts, sounding a little unsure. “I could ask my friend to keep you company.”

Leon remembers the warmth the mystery man from before radiated and nods slowly. He wants to meet this man again, now that he’s healthy.

“I’ll send for him.” The dragon nods, sounding tired, and exits the tower.

The sound of wings beating against the air outside reaches Leon’s ears as the dragon lifts off and disappears over the mountains.

Leon watches it go through a window until the creature fades from his view and the sun lowers below the horizon completely. He goes back to the fire and sits, decidedly not moping, and waits for the dragon’s friend to arrive.

About an hour after the sun had set, Leon hears something approaching the tower. He whips around, a sudden fear settling in the pit of his stomach. He’d grown up hearing stories about the dangers that lived around Hammerlocke Tower and, despite the dragon’s promise, he was nervous.  _ It’s probably the mysterious man from before _ , he tells himself.

_ Or _ , the anxious part of his brain hisses,  _ it’s a hungry monster, wanting to eat you up. _

Leon shivers and stands up, steeling himself. He moves towards the entrance as quietly as possible and waits in the darkness for a sign of movement.

He only has to wait for a minute before a shadow crosses the threshold and Leon lunges, tackling whatever was about to enter the tower to the ground. The figure lets out a yell of surprise as they’re knocked over, pinned to the floor by Leon’s full weight.

There’s a small struggle before the figure goes limp, breathing hard.

“Who are you?” Leon demands, straddling the intruder’s stomach and pinning their hands to the ground on either side of their head.

“I’m a friend,” the person says gently, and the voice is familiar, if not out of breath. “I mean you no harm.”

Leon can’t really make out who the person was this far from the fire, but the voice was too familiar to ignore. 

“How do I know you’re telling the truth?” He asks, eyes narrowed.

The man shrugs.

“You don’t,” he says. “You just have to trust me.”

Leon doesn’t move for a long moment, chest heaving from their previous struggle. After a minute, he lets go of the stranger’s wrists and sits up, suddenly aware of the position they were in. He flushes, glad that it was too dark to make anything out.

“Sorry,” he says, standing up and offering a hand to the person on the floor. The man (he was pretty sure it was a man at this point) takes his hand and Leon pulls him up. The palm in his own was warm, practically radiating heat, and Leon feels a little colder when the stranger pulls away. 

“It’s fine,” the man brushes the dirt off of himself and moves towards the fire. “Though it definitely wasn’t the smartest idea to jump out at an intruder without knowing what you’re up against.”

Leon flushes in embarrassment, trailing behind him awkwardly. The light grew the closer they got to the fire and Leon was able to get a good look at his visitor.

The man was tall, taller than Leon by a whole head, and lean, evidence of sinewy muscle under his dark skin. He was wearing a loose white shirt tucked into pants that showed off thick, muscular thighs and knee-high boots, a burlap bag slung over his shoulder. He had short dreads tied off into a ponytail at the back of his head and a thick band of fabric that wrapped around pointed ears to hold a half-mask against the bridge of his nose. It was mostly metal and covered the top half of the man’s face. Leon is surprised to see no eyeholes whatsoever, nothing for him to see through. Despite this, though, the man moves with a confidence that makes Leon a little jealous. The mask itself was beautiful, reminding Leon of a bird, one that had horns for some reason. 

The man grins at him and Leon looks away, flushing red. He had  _ fangs _ .

“What’s your name?” Leon asks, clearing his throat awkwardly.

“I don’t have one.” The man says.

“What?” Leon starts, glancing up at him in surprise. “Everyone has a name!”

“Are you hungry?” The man asks instead, holding up the bag and taking Leon by surprise. A distinct  _ fish _ smell reaches Leon’s nose and he figures the man must have caught some before coming here. As if to answer for him, his stomach growls loudly, echoing around the quiet room.

There’s a beat of silence before the man laughs and heads towards the small kitchen in the corner. Leon follows him, feeling a little bit like a lost puppy after the sudden change of topic. He wasn’t going to let the name thing go, of course, already planning how to bring it up next.

He watches the man approach the kitchen with curiosity, wondering how he planned on making Leon food when he clearly couldn’t see anything. The man doesn’t even hesitate, though, heading straight for the cupboards and grabbing things out of the shelves, giving each one a quick sniff to confirm their contents before either putting them back or placing them on the counter. He must have an excellent sense of smell, Leon notes, like the dragon. He files that bit of information away for later and sits down at the dusty table.

Confirming Leon’s earlier suspicions, the man pulls two very large fish from his pack and draws a knife from one of the drawers. Leon watches in awe as the man expertly guts, scales, and butchers the two fish, producing four filets of meat in record time. 

“Wow,” Leon breathes, eyes wide. “How did you get so  _ good _ at that?”

The man doesn’t look Leon’s way, but a smile plays across his mouth anyway. 

“Lots of practice.” He says, his pointy ears twitching at the compliment. “Do you know how to cook?”

“Vaguely,” Leon tilts his head. “I’ve never had a reason too, though, so I’m not very good.”

The man hums in response and chops some of the vegetables from the icebox.

“Are you really not going to tell me your name?” Leon asks, watching curiously as the man tenses up slightly. 

“No,” the man replies.

Leon frowns, understanding then that the man wouldn’t budge about that.

“What can I call you then?” He asks instead of pressing further, but the tension in the man’s shoulders doesn’t release.

“You can call me R,” he says with a sigh after a second of silence, giving up.

Leon grins and clasps his hands together, happy to have gotten his way at least a little bit.

“Don’t be so pleased about it,” R grouses, pulling a cooking iron towards the fire in the center of the room. “It’s just a letter.”

“Yeah, but now I don’t have to refer to you as  _ Mystery Man _ in my head anymore. So I’m counting it as a win.” Leon laughs, watching as R pushes the pot into the flames, careful to avoid getting burned.

R snorts but doesn’t comment.

“Make yourself useful and bring me the ingredients,” he says instead, stoking the fire under the cooking iron. Leon nods and grabs the wooden board R had placed the food bits on, bringing it over to the other man.

R takes the board and drops the vegetables into the pot first, the sound of sizzling filling the room instantly. Leon sits down and watches as R uses a stick to push the food around for a bit, making sure it doesn’t burn, before adding the fish. He goes to the kitchen and comes back with an armful of spices, pouring different amounts into the pot until it was almost overwhelming with how good it smelled.

Before long, a plate is pushed into his hands, piled high with food and R flashes him a smile, sitting down at the table across from Leon.

“Enjoy, Leon.”

Leon eyes him warily but takes the plate.

“How do you know my name?” He asks after a minute, glancing at the other man carefully. “I don’t recall telling you.”

The man hesitates before shrugging.

“The dragon told me.” He says, but something isn’t sitting right with Leon. His stomach growls again, and he decides not to push it further, turning to his meal. R was as strange as the dragon itself.

They eat in relative silence, both of them rather preoccupied with enjoying the food. Leon wolfs it down, surprised at how good it was. Definitely  _ much _ better than what he’d made last night.

“That was amazing,” Leon tells R afterward, and the man grins at the compliment as they settle down near the fire. “You have to teach me how to cook next time, okay?” 

R glances over in his direction, looking a little surprised.

“Next time?” He says after a bit, unreadable through the mask.

“Yeah,” Leon nods hesitantly. “If you want there to be a next time, of course.”

R is silent for a moment, masked face turning in Leon’s direction, and Leon wishes that he could see R’s eyes, wishes he knew what the other was thinking.

“Sure.” The man shrugs after a second, an easy smile flashing across his face. “If you’ll have me.”

Leon lets out a relieved breath and leans back against his elbows, allowing himself to relax and stare into the fire.

As much as Leon didn’t want to admit it, he found his eyes drawn to the other man. What could he say? Leon was a simple man, and even with half of his face covered, R was clearly very handsome. He had a sharp jawline with a strong nose, and he was well-muscled, not to mention those  _ thighs _ .

Leon finds himself staring as R’s long fingers tap out a quiet beat against his knee.

“I may not be able to see you, but it’s still rude to stare.” R says after a bit, turning towards Leon.

“O-Oh, my bad,” He stutters out, embarrassed at getting caught. “I just...zoned out.”

R looks amused but doesn’t call Leon’s bluff. 

“What’s with the mask, anyway?” Leon asks, clumsily trying to change the subject. R lets him.

“It’s fae guard regalia,” He replies easily, turning back to the fire.

“You’re fae?” Leon stiffens, sitting up and staring at R in surprise. That would explain the pointy ears and strange behavior, at least, but it’d also mean that Leon was in danger.

R laughs and shakes his head.

“Not quite. I was born human.”

Leon relaxes. 

“A changeling, then?”

A small smile plays across R’s lips and he shrugs.

“Of sorts.”

He has a feeling R’s being purposefully vague, but Leon didn’t have room to push him, what with him doing the same thing to the dragon earlier that day.

“Hmm,” he says instead, leaning back against a rock, crossing his legs beneath him carefully. “What’s it like as a fae guard?”

“Very strange,” R laughs lightly. “But good.” He doesn’t elaborate further.

“What kind of guard are you?” Leon presses. 

“Do you always ask so many questions?” R sighs, stoking the fire with a stick.

“I’m curious!” Leon protests. “I’ve hardly been outside the castle my entire life, this is my first time even  _ near _ a fae guard.”

R sighs again.

“I was Opal’s right hand,” he answers after a minute of pointed silence.

“Was?”

“Yes, was.” R nods. “As in the past tense of is.”

“I know what was means!” Leon crosses his arms over his chest and decidedly does not pout. 

It takes a moment for him to recall why the name Opal sounded so familiar.

“Wait-” he stares at R with wide eyes. “You were the right hand of the Queen of the Fae?  _ That _ Opal?!”

R nods once and stokes the fire again.

“Holy shit.” Leon breathes, stunned. “That’s amazing.”

R says nothing, but his ears twitch and turn a little darker at the tips. Leon grins, warmth sparking in his chest, pleased to finally get a reaction out of the other man.

He resolves to do it as much as possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> leon you dense bastard....  
> this chapter was really fun to write i love their interactions sm.......and raihan finally made the decision to not eat leon so thats a step right?  
> i have some editing to do on the final two chapters but they should be up soon!  
> As always, thanks for reading and follow me on twitter @ basilwizard


	4. Chapter Four

Leon wakes up to the sun on his face and it takes a second for him to remember where he is. He’s in a bed, but it’s not  _ his _ bed, and the birds sounded different, closer. When he sits up he realizes he’s in Hammerlocke Tower, tucked neatly into the bed by the stairs. He frowns, confused. Leon didn’t even remember falling asleep last night, had spent most of it by the fire talking to R and-

_ Oh, _ he thinks.  _ Oh no. _

With some amount of embarrassment, Leon realizes he must have drifted off in the middle of one of their conversations. But how did he get all the way up here then? Leon wasn’t a sleepwalker, so that left only one option. His face flushes red at the thought.

R carried him up here.

Leon stares at the quilt he’d been sleeping under and feels his chest tighten.

The rest of the day passes in a blur. He talks to the dragon, but he’s distracted, and the creature is quick to notice.

He assigns Leon some chores in the meantime, saying that if the prince wanted to stay he’d have to pull his weight. Leon agrees easily and spends most of the morning getting rid of the tower’s impressively thick layer of dust while the dragon hunts for food. Leon whips up a rather sad meal for himself in the meantime and misses R’s cooking rather dearly. He sighs, clears his plate, and continues his scrubbing down of the kitchen.

Once the creature returns, they journey a short distance to the woods at the base of the mountain and Leon chops some wood for the fire. He’d never done it before, so the dragon talks him through it until Leon gets the hang of it. He doesn’t ask where a dragon learned to chop wood. After a while, the dragon stops watching him and sorta half snoozes in the sun until it starts to get dark. 

They return to the tower, the dragon carrying the wood Leon chopped on his back. It laughs as Leon all but flops onto the corner blanket pile, groaning loudly.

He must drift off sometime after that since when he next opens his eyes it’s nighttime and the smell of cooking meat and aromantics fill the tower. He sits up slowly, cracking his back with a groan, and he hears R humming to himself.

The man leans over the cooking pot, stirring something that smells  _ amazing _ , and Leon allows himself a moment to stare. It all feels very...domestic, and he can’t find it in himself to complain.

“You just gonna sit there?” R calls out, and Leon freezes for a second before huffing out a laugh.

He makes his way towards the fire and sidles up next to R to peer into the cooking iron. Almost as soon as Leon gets close, R goes very still, inhaling sharply. 

Leon stops moving, surprised by the other’s reactions. He probably stunk from working all day, now that he thought about it, and he knew R had a sensitive nose. The other man swallows and Leon watches him, curious. 

“R?” He asks carefully. “Is something wrong?” 

That seems to shake him out of whatever funk he’d been in, and R shoots him a slightly shaky smile.

“Everything’s fine, sorry, I just…zoned out for a second.” He offers and Leon, not knowing what else to do, doesn’t question it.

They eat their dinner in tense silence until Leon can’t take it anymore. 

“Are you sure nothing’s wrong?” He says suddenly, startling R out of his thoughts. “Because you seem awful moody.”

“I told you everything’s fine,” R purses his lips, annoyed. “And I’m not being moody.”

“He says moodily.” Leon snarks, stabbing a chunk of meat with more force than necessary. 

He can  _ feel _ R’s hackles raise. 

“Mind your business, prince.”

Leon stiffens

“ _ Don’t _ ,” he snaps, catching R by surprise. “ _ You _ don’t get to call me that.”

“What,” R snarls back, thoroughly irritated. “ _ Prince _ ?” 

“I said  _ don’t _ .” Leon hisses, gripping his fork so tight he thinks it might bend, and something in his voice makes the other pause. R looks in his direction for a very long time, the tension stretching and growing until the other man huffs and turns back to his plate.

“Fine.” He growls out, going back to angrily chewing through a hunk of meat. “But don’t expect me to answer all of your stupid questions.”

Leon sighs, anger fading.

“Sorry for pressing,” He mumbles, slowly releasing his grip on the fork. “I’ll try to stop doing it so much.”

“It’s...okay,” R huffs, stumbling over his words a bit. “I’m sorry...for being rude.”

R clearly wasn’t used to apologizing, but Leon was gonna take what he could get.

“Friends?” he asks, extending a hand across the table. R goes still for a second before he slowly nods, taking Leon’s hand and proverbial olive branch. 

“...Friends.”

There’s hesitation in R’s voice, but Leon grins.  _ Small victories, _ he tells himself.

_ Small victories. _

\------------

It’s Leon’s eighth night at Hammerlocke Tower, and he’s beginning to go a little stir crazy.

R watches him pace from one side of the room to the other, arms crossed.

“No,” the man says. “It’s too dangerous.”

Leon throws his hands into the air, exasperated.

“I’m Galar’s  _ Champion _ , for Arceus’ sake. I’m not going to die at the first sign of danger!”

“There are dangers in the Glimwood Tangle that you can’t even comprehend, Leon, much less defend yourself from.” R doesn’t budge.

“But I’m  _ bored! _ ” Leon groans, not caring that he sounded like a petulant child.

“And I’m sorry for that,” R sighs, shaking his head. “But I can’t let you wander the forest by yourself, it’s too dangerous.”

An idea overtakes Leon and he stops pacing.

“What if you came with me?” He asks, approaching R excitedly. “You have much more experience in the Tangle than I do, and you can protect me if needed!”

“No.” R says immediately.

“Why not?” Leon raises an eyebrow, stopping in front of the other man and look up at him. 

“Because…” R trails off, clearly unable to think of a valid reason.

“ _ Please _ ?” Leon stops just short of begging, but his want must show in his voice cause R’s shoulders fall and the man pinches the bridge of his nose.

“Fine.” He says finally, and Leon cheers.

“Oh,  _ thank you _ , R, you have no idea what this means to me!” He cries, throwing his arms around the other man for a tight hug before zooming away to pack. He glances over his shoulder as he bustles around the kitchen looking for a late-night snack to bring and catches R, unmoving, in the exact same position as he was in when Leon hugged him.

Leon’s about to ask if the man was okay when he sees R’s long ears twitch and turn darker with a blush. He smiles to himself, secretly pleased with this turn of events. 

“Where to?” He asks, tying the bag closed and coming to a stop next to R again. The man coughs, a dusting of red still visible on his cheeks.

“I could take you the hot springs if you want?”

Leon nods and they set out.

They’re quiet as they hike up the mountain, but it’s comfortable. R moves easily through the woods, completely silent, and it sends a thrill through Leon. 

Obviously, he’d known that R was dangerous, what with him being the Faerie Queen’s right hand and all, but he’d never seen him in action before. R keeps a hand on his hip at all times, ears alert and ready for anything. He seemed in his element out here, and Leon was grateful to be able to witness it. It only made R seem more beautiful, especially when the moonlight glinted off the metal of his mask and framed his profile just so.

Leon doesn’t know what to do about these feelings of his.

They pass into a small clearing and he gasps. 

In front of him lay the most beautiful springs he’d ever seen, the light of the moon glinting off several pools of water that steamed slightly in the cool night. The rocks glistened softly, seemingly made out of crystals, and Leon could barely believe his eyes.

“Wow,” Leon says quietly, looking around in awe. “It’s beautiful.”

“Thank you,” a voice says, and Leon jumps, latching onto R’s arm in his surprise. He glances around the masked man to peer warily at the person who had spoken.

It was a woman, dark-skinned and beautiful, standing at the edge of one of the pools with her hands on her hips.

“Nessa,” R greets, sounding a little surprised. “I didn’t expect you to be here.”

“And miss out on seeing a friend?” The woman, Nessa, laughs. “I think not.”   
She turns her eyes to Leon and smiles.

“And who’s this?” 

He straightens up at being addressed and lets go of R’s arm. 

“I’m Leon, Prince of Galar. It’s wonderful to meet you, Nessa.”

His expression quickly turns to confusion as Nessa looks sharply at R, her eyes narrowed.

“What have you done, Rai-” She begins to say, but R is over to her in an instant, clapping his hand over her mouth. He whispers something hurriedly in her ear and her eyes narrow further. 

Leon stands there, awkward and unsure, as the two of them start to fight in tones too low for him to hear. 

After about a minute of this, R clasps Nessa’s hands between his own and, even from a distance Leon can tell what he’s saying. 

_ Please _ . 

And with that, Nessa caves. 

“Fine,” She says at a normal volume, and R sighs in relief. “But I’m not happy about it.”

“That’s fair.” R nods, looking a little guilty as he scratches the back of his neck.

Nessa turns to Leon.

“I apologize for the interruption,” She shoots R a quick glare before smiling at Leon. “It’s wonderful to meet you as well, Prince Leon of Galar. Please enjoy my springs anytime you wish.”

Leon nods, glancing curiously between Nessa and R. The two of them were obviously friends if their body language was anything to go by. R seemed more...relaxed in Nessa’s presence.  _ Wait a second _ -

“These are  _ your _ springs?” Leon asks, surprised. 

Nessa just laughs.

“I’m a water nymph,” She explains, laughing a little as Leon’s eyes go wide. “These springs fall under my domain.”

“Oh,” Leon breathes out, awestruck. He’s never met a nymph before. 

Nessa laughs, flattered, and steps back.

“I’ll leave you to it,” She nods at Leon, and glares at R, directing the last part at him, voice warning. “We’re  _ going _ to have a conversation later.”

R winces and raises a hand in goodbye. Before Leon’s eyes, Nessa becomes more and more transparent, until she was made completely of water, and then she disappears back into the pool she’d been standing in.

“What was that about?” He asks, side-eyeing R.

“Nothin’.” The man turns towards him, voice betraying very little.

Leon stares at him for a long second, neither of them budging before he sighs and looks around. 

“So is this some sort of magic hot springs?” He asks, peering at the water warily. R laughs.

“It’s not magic,” he tells him. “Though it might have some small healing effect. You should go for a swim and enjoy being outside the tower.”

Leon takes a deep breath and nods.

“Can you...Can you turn around?” He asks after a second, embarrassment clouding his voice.

“I can’t see anything.” R reminds him, frowning.

“I-I know,” he mumbles, turning a rather unflattering shade of red. “But could you do it anyway? Please?”

R turns around with a sigh, ears twitching slightly. Relieved, Leon starts to strip, folding his clothes neatly into a pile on the bank. He hesitates a second before pulling off his underwear too. He shivers slightly and dips his foot into the pool, testing the waters. It’s warm to the touch, and Leon wades the rest of the way in. He finds his way to a submerged rock that was the perfect height for him to sit on and still have the water reach his chest. 

“You can turn around now,” He calls out to R, and the man does as he’s told.

R settles down cross-legged at the edge of the water and Leon turns to him.

“Are you not coming in?” He asks, a hint of disappointment in his voice. 

R shakes his head, offering an easy smile in return.

“I’m good,” he tells Leon. “Maybe next time.”

Leon brightens up instantly.

“Next time?” he smiles widely, ecstatic. “You’ll bring me out here again?”

R chuckles and shrugs.

“Maybe if you’re good.”

The rest of Leon’s swim goes by easily, time slipping by as he talks to R. The man listens to Leon chatter, cracking a joke here and there. He answers most of Leon’s questions honestly but shies away from anything personal. Despite this, Leon learns quite a bit about the other man. 

He learns R likes meat more than vegetables, hates being cold, and that he and Nessa had been friends for years now. He learns that R had more friends, too: a satyr named Milo, a fire spirit named Kabu, and a golem named Gordie, to name a few. 

“Do you have any friends?” R asks him, later, when they’re back at the tower.

Leon nods before remembering that R couldn’t see him. 

“I did,” He takes a breath, unconsciously looking in the direction of the castle. He didn’t miss being a prince, but he did miss Hop, Victor, and Sonia. 

He tells R about them, slowly at first, before all his emotions come rushing out and he finds that he’s stumbling over his words, tears rolling down his cheeks. He talks about how headstrong Hop is, how much he sees of himself in his brother and how that worries him. He talks about Victor and how he’s sure the kid will be Champion one day. He talks about Sonia and how she’d been one of his closest friends since childhood. He talks about how much he misses them, and R lets him, scooting closer and wrapping an arm around Leon’s shoulders as he cries.  _ He’s warm _ , Leon registers slowly as he slumps against R’s torso, pressing his forehead into the junction of the man’s shoulder. Something deep within him unlocks, and Leon starts to talk again.

“I had another friend, too, when I was younger.” He murmurs, quiet. R stills for a second before his thumb rubs a reassuring circle onto Leon’s back.

“You don’t have to talk about it,” R says softly, as if he knows. Leon shakes his head, determined.

“No, I want to.” 

R hesitates before nodding just barely, and Leon takes it as his sign to continue.

“When I was younger there was a boy that lived in the village,” he says, voice thick. “His name was Raihan and he….he was my best friend.”

Leon hears R inhale shakily, but he doesn’t dwell on it, his mind stuck on images of the past. 

“Whenever I felt bad, he was always there to cheer me up. Whenever I needed him, he was there. I’m pretty sure I-”  _ loved him _ , he tries to say, but Leon’s voice breaks and he has to stop for a second to gather himself. “We were both became knights together, both strived for the title of Champion. We did everything together until…. My father died when I was 12, poisioned and manipulated into giving away his throne by his own advisor. Things...changed when Rose took over. He didn’t like that I was spending so much time with someone outside of the castle, and began scheduling me with less and less free time, until I couldn’t do anything but stare out the window as Raihan waited in the courtyard for me to come down. I wanted to be around him so badly it was almost painful. But I couldn’t.” 

R tightened his grip on Leon, hesitating a second before running his hand through Leon’s hair. Leon feels his eyes slip closed at the sensation and it gives him the strength to keep talking.

“One day, Raihan and I escaped the palace and ventured into the Tangle, had the day all to ourselves. It was...the best day of my life, I think.” Leon sighs at the memory, silent for a couple of seconds as he lets himself remember. “When we finally went back to the castle at the end of the day, we both got in so much trouble. But it was worth it, you know. I wouldn’t have traded that day away for anything. Still wouldn’t.

“But Rose...He was angry,  _ really _ angry. He told me I wasn’t allowed to see Raihan again, and he all but locked me away in the castle to make sure of it. Raihan saw this happening and decided to do something about it, because that’s just what he was like. He saw me hurting and wanted to help. He came to the palace steps and demanded to see me, said he wouldn’t leave until he got to talk to me.” Leon hiccups, fresh tears tracking down his cheeks. “Rose told me that if I couldn’t get Raihan to leave then- then he would have him  _ killed _ . I couldn’t bear the thought, so I ran down the stairs and I-”

His voice breaks and he has to steady himself in order to continue.

“I told him that he needed to leave, but he wouldn’t listen. He saw that I was crying and wouldn’t  _ leave _ . I couldn’t let him die so I did the only thing I could think of and...I told him I hated him, that I didn’t want to see him again.” Leon’s chest aches at the memory. “His expression after I told him has haunted me for years. He looked so….so  _ broken _ . All because of what I said...

“I screamed at him to leave me alone, to go away and never come back, and...he did.” Leon grips the fabric of his pants with white knuckles and squeezes his eyes shut. “He ran into the woods and no one ever saw him again. They tell me he’s most likely dead. He was so young, and the woods are so dangerous, I don’t know how he would have survived if he did.”

R says nothing, just continues to card his hand through Leon’s hair and rub small circles into his back. As much as Leon hurt at that moment, it felt...easier with R. His chest still felt raw and painful, but there was a warmth there that wasn’t before, like an old injury that was finally starting to heal. 

“I miss him,” Leon whispers, listening to the steady thump of R’s heart as he leans against his neck. “Every day.”

They don’t talk for the rest of the night, the two of them exhausted and hurting, and Leon eventually drifts to sleep like that, curled up in R’s arms. 

He has a dream that night, of a tall man with dark, warm skin and bright blue eyes. The man holds him tightly in his arms and presses his lips to Leon’s forehead, to his cheeks, his nose, his chin, and jaw, repeating two phrases over and over again.

_ I love you _ , he says.  _ I forgive you. _

Leon wakes up crying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahahaha.....if you thought this chapter was emotional? hold onto your butts for the next one y'all. its gonna be a doozy!!!!!!  
> thank u for all ur comments i'm sorry i'm really bad at replying AHHHHH please forgive me....


	5. Chapter Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> buckle up folks this ones a lot

The next couple of days pass in a blur.

Leon cleans, and chops wood, and distracts himself. The dragon watches him and says nothing. 

R does not come that night. Leon waits up for him and ends up falling asleep much too close to the fire and wakes up to the smell of singed hair and a scolding dragon.

R doesn’t come the next night either, nor the night after that, and Leon worries. 

Did he do something wrong? R had touched him more then than he’d touched Leon every other meeting combined, had the masked man been embarrassed? Had he been called away on fae guard duty? Had he heard how awful Leon had been to Raihan and decided he was better off without him? 

The last one hurt the most, though Leon knew he probably deserved it.

Still, he misses R desperately, the hole in his chest aching whenever he thinks of the other man. The morning after R doesn’t show up for the fourth time, Leon has had enough.

“Where has R gone?” He demands, cornering the dragon outside the tower. “Why is he avoiding me?” 

The dragon winces and looks at Leon carefully.

“I don’t know.” It lies. Leon doesn’t buy it and crosses his arms, determined.

The dragon sighs and bonks Leon gently on the top of his head with its giant dragon chin.

“He’s thinking through some things. Give him some time.”

“I’ve given him time!” Leon throws his hands in the air in frustration. The dragon levels him with an unimpressed look and Leon groans. 

“Fine.” he sighs, giving up. “Can you tell him something for me?”

The dragon hesitates, then nods slowly.

“Tell him I miss him.” Leon sniffs, running a hand through his hair nervously. “Tell him that whenever he’s ready, I’ll be here, waiting.”

The dragon stares at him for a long moment before it shakes its head and laughs. 

“I’ll let him know.” 

“Thank you.”

Leon looks at the dragon and feels a familiar warmth in his chest. The same warmth he got when he looked at R. A light goes off over his head, and Leon frowns.

The dragon had bright, icy blue eyes that Leon had recognized the very first time he’d seen it. He told himself it was impossible, but...Leon had met a real water nymph since that day. He’d heard stories of a fire spirit, of a satyr, of a golem, and had no reason to consider them untrue. Most dragons didn’t even  _ talk _ , for fuck’s sake. 

Honestly, Leon felt a little bit like an idiot.

It was all so obvious now, the similar moods and mannerisms, the way the dragon acted so...human, the way R reacted when Leon had said Raihan’s name. How the two of them, despite claiming friendship, were never even seen near each other. 

It must be a curse of some sort, Leon deduces. It was the only thing that would explain this wild situation. Dragon by day, human by night.

But this was all just speculation, of course. Leon didn’t know for sure if this dragon was  _ his _ dragon…...but he knew how to find out.

Leon reaches out, slow and steady, and takes the dragon’s large face in his hands. The creature stills, eyes watching him curiously. Gently he turns the dragon’s head to the right and brings his fingers up, brushing the small horns that made up its brow and Leon lets out a shaky breath as he finds it. There, almost hidden by the patterning of its crest, was a scar. The same scar Raihan had gotten so long ago.

The dragon exhales, soft and shaky, as Leon touches the raised skin almost reverently, his theory confirmed.

R and the dragon were the same person, and that person was Raihan,  _ his _ Raihan. 

He’s about to say something when the dragon pulls away suddenly, a wild look in its eyes.

“Someone’s here.”

Leon feels his stomach drop. 

“Who?” He hisses out, glancing around. “Who would come here?”

“I don’t know.” The dragon- Raihan- growls out. “But they’re dangerous.”

Leon swallows as those ice blue eyes swing down to look at him.

“Don’t go,” he whispers, knowing it was futile.

“I have to,” Raihan’s large dragon mouth was set in a hard line, but his eyes looked sad. “I have to protect you, Leon. I made you a promise.”

Leon throws his arms around Raihan’s long neck and  _ squeezes _ . 

“Come back to me, Raihan,” he murmurs. “Come back to me this time.”

Raihan freezes for a long second, but Leon doesn’t let go until the dragon relaxes underneath him, letting out a long-suffering sigh.

“I’ll fight for you, my prince,” He says, voice rumbly and soft. “I’ll always fight for you.”

And with that, Raihan backs up and leaps into the air, wings beating to catch the wind and he soars into the sky.

Leon watches him go, dread settling heavy and thick in his stomach.

\----------

It’s getting late in the day when Leon hears movement outside the tower. 

He perks up, but it isn’t the sound of wings he hears, instead of quiet footsteps. The sun was still up, so it couldn’t have been Raihan, which meant-

Leon moves quickly, disappearing into the shadows to wait. 

It’s almost funny, he thinks, how similar his current position reminded him of the first time he’d interacted with human Raihan since they were teenagers. He’d waited in the shadows, just like this, but he wasn’t going to attack right away this time. He needed to be patient, to wait for a good opportunity. The footsteps grow closer and Leon holds himself as still as possible. A figure enters the tower and it’s...not who Leon expected.

“Hop?” He steps out from the shadows, startling the 15-year-old. “What are you doing here?”

“Leon!” his little brother whips around, smiling wide at his sudden appearance. “Oh, I’m so glad you’re alright-”

“Hop,” Leon says again, cutting him off with a serious tone. “What are you doing here?”   
Hop looks at him like he’s crazy.

“Saving you, of course,” he says like it’s the most obvious thing. 

In the distance, Leon hears a pained roar echo up the mountains. He stiffens. Hop notices and grins widely.

“You don’t have to worry about that mean dragon anymore, bro, Victor’s got it handled!”

Leon pales, feeling faint. Three things occurred to him at the exact same time.

  1. Victor was fighting Raihan.
  2. Raihan wasn’t going to hurt a kid.
  3. Victor was _definitely_ going to hurt Raihan.



“Leon..?” Hop asks, showing uncertainty for the first time since he’d walked in.

“Hop,” Leon whispers, stricken. “You have to help me save that dragon.”

He doesn’t wait for his little brother to answer and starts to run, ignoring the surprised yell Hop lets out of “W-What?!” 

He feels Hop grab onto his wrist to stop him, wanting an answer.

“Why?” he demands. “ _ Why _ do you want to save it?!”

“Because it’s Raihan and _ I love him _ ,” Leon pleads, desperate and horrified as he tries to tug away. “Please, Hop, you have to let me go!”

Realization lights up in Hop’s eyes and his grip loosens around Leon’s wrist. Taking the opportunity, Leon wrenches his wrist from Hop’s grip and  _ bolts _ .

He hears Hop calling after him and ignores it, skidding down the mountain slope and into the trees. Branches tear at his clothes and hair as he sprints through the woods towards the smell of smoke. A branch whips against the side of his face, a small cut opening upon his cheek. The pain is sharp and sudden, but Leon doesn’t even slow down.

His chest burns with exertion and he feels his legs threatening to give out. He refuses to stop, refuses to slow down, not when Raihan was in danger, not when he could die so soon after Leon finally got him back.

The coppery smell that Leon’s nose picked up a while back grew stronger and stronger until he bursts into a clearing. The stench of blood permeates the air, and Leon feels as if what little air was in his lungs has just been knocked out. He stares with horror at the scene in front of him.

The clearing was not a natural one, had been created by large swaths of fire burning the trees to ash. In some places, the ground still smoldered. Everything was bathed in red from the setting sun.

In the center of the clearing, Leon watches in horror as Raihan gives one last feeble roar and collapses where he lay, unmoving on the ground. Victor stands at Raihan’s head and sheaths their sword. Leon cries out as if in pain and starts running towards the dragon. 

Victor whips around to face Leon, surprised. 

“Leon-” they say, but Leon moves past them, dropping to his knees next to Raihan’s still head. 

“Raihan,” He murmurs, hands reaching out to touch the dragon’s face carefully. “Oh, Raihan, please don’t-” A thick lump in his throat the words from coming, it’s all he can do to keep repeating his love’s name until he begins to cry.

“Raihan, Raihan, Raihan-” he sobbing now, cradling the dragon’s head in his lap, pressing his forehead to Raihan’s large cheek. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so,  _ so _ sorry-”

Leon barely registers when Hop arrives in the clearing, breathing hard.

The last of the sun’s rays glint off of Raihan’s scales before that, too, fades away.

Leon pulls back and watches with bated breath, waiting for something,  _ anything _ , to happen. Wasn’t Raihan supposed to change when the sun set? Wasn’t he supposed to be human now? Had Leon really been too late?

Leon curls around himself, a horrible noise wrenching itself from his lungs. 

“Raihan,” he pleads, voice cracking and desperate, “Please, no, you can’t leave me- I just got you back, Raihan, please-  _ I love you _ \- You can’t just  _ leave _ -”

He sobs, tears running down the bridge of his nose and dripping onto Raihan’s cheek, wetting his scales.

He doesn’t notice when Victor and Hop step back in surprise, but, after a second or two, he does hear the soft music that echoes through the clearing. He looks up slowly, blinking at the light that casts soft shadows across Raihan’s dragon face.

Standing in front of him was an old woman, all light pink and blue hues. She held a closed umbrella in her left hand and had a scarf of dark purple fur around her neck. Through his haze of grief, he realizes who stands in front of him and Leon stares, open-mouthed, at the Queen of the Fae. 

“Close your mouth, Prince,” Opal tells him, not unkindly, and Leon’s mouth snaps shut.

She looks at Raihan, a sad look on her face, and Leon feels sick.

“It seems you were too late to save the dragon,” She says. “It’s a shame.”

Her words pierce through Leon like ice. _ He was too late _ .

“Please,” Leon gasps, desperate. “Is there anything you can do?”

“Not I. This form of his has taken too much damage. I’m afraid there’s no saving it.” 

Leon feels his last reserves crumble to dust, and he slumps against Raihan’s chin. 

“Now don’t go looking all miserable,” Opal grouses, tapping Leon on the head with the tip of her umbrella. “I said there wasn’t anything  _ I _ could do about this form.” She pauses, thinking. “His human form, however...there might be something  _ you _ could do. ”

Leon looks up at her, confused. 

Opal looks at him for a long moment before sighing.

“You humans are all so dense,” she grumbles, hobbling closer. “You started to lift the curse, did you not?”

“I...what?” Leon mumbles, thoroughly confused. 

“The curse!” Opal cries out, raising her hands in frustration. “The curse your dragon was placed under, the one that caused him to change every sunset and sunrise until his true love told him he loved him back!”

“But…” Leon frowns. “I’ve  _ always _ loved him back.”

Leon glances down at Raihan, and things start to click in his brain. He thinks about the day he and Raihan spent in the Tangle, thinks about Raihan asking if Leon loved him back. He remembers the  _ yes _ forming on his lips, but…. they had been interrupted by the search party Rose had sent after them before he could say it. He remembers wanting to say it so  _ badly, _ remembers rehearsing the line in his head, but the next time he and Riahan met, it had been under threat of death and Leon had to tell him to go away. Everything clicks into place.

“Oh god,” He whispers. “ _ I never told him I loved him back _ .”

“Now he gets it,” Opal grumbles, and Leon would almost be offended if his mind wasn’t working a mile a minute. “Finish what you started, Prince.”

Leon stares at Raihan in shock for a long minute. 

“Raihan,” he breathes, stroking his fingers along his dragon’s crest. “I love you.”

Something shifts, and Leon says it again.

“I love you.” 

Raihan’s scales begin to sparkle softly, as if catching the rays of the sun. 

And again.

“I love you.”

The glow grows stronger, as if the sun was no longer dipping below the horizon but was  _ inside _ of Raihan.

And again and again, Leon repeats himself with his whole heart, hands shaking as the head in his lap begins to shrink and change.

“ _ I love you. _ ”

Raihan gasps, jerking to life and Leon is crying again, full-on weeping with happiness and relief and  _ love _ . The man in his lap takes a deep, shuddering breath, grabbing onto Leon’s shoulders and staring up at him with wide eyes. 

“What’s happenin-” Raihan starts to speak, but he’s cut off by Leon grabbing him by the face and kissing him fully on the mouth. 

He pulls away after a moment, still holding either side of Raihan’s face like it might disappear between his palms, and repeats himself one more time.

“ _ I love you. _ ” 

It takes a second for Leon’s words to process, but once they do, a gigantic smile splits Raihan’s face and  _ fuck he’s beautiful _ , Leon thinks.

“I love you,” he says again, just because he can, and then Raihan is sitting up and kissing him again and again and the only thing Leon can think are the words  _ warm _ and  _ lovely _ and  _ perfect _ .

They’re laughing and crying and kissing and holding each other and Leon knows this is how it was always meant to be.

Opal clears her throat pointedly and Raihan jerks away, glancing up at her, sheepish. 

“What do you say?” 

“Thank you, Opal,” Raihan tells her, turning red under her unimpressed look. 

“And?” She presses.

“And you were right. I should never doubt you again,” Raihan says, though he’s still smiling wide, glancing at Leon. “Thank  _ Arceus _ .”

Opal nods, appeased, and taps her umbrella against the ground once. Hop yelps out in surprise as the charred husk of the forest around them begins to grow back, radiating outward from the spot the tip of her umbrella touched. Grass grew, flowers bloomed, and trees rocketed up into the sky as the Glimwood Tangle reclaimed its land.

“One last thing before I go,” Opal says, turning back to Raihan. She walks forward and touches the top of his head, a soft blue light enveloping her hand. “I release you from duty, my loyal knight. You’ve served me well these 10 years, but it’s time for you to move on to greater things. Just remember, you’re always welcome in my domain.” 

Raihan nods, once, a serious but determined look on his face.

“Thank you, my Queen.”

Opal gives him a soft smile and turns to Leon.

“And you,” she gives him a look and Leon sits up straighter in response. “Don’t pull any more stupid shit, my knight is fragile.”

Raihan makes a noise of protest, but Leon ignores him and nods.

“Of course, Your Highness.” 

“Good,” Opal nods, a twinkle in her eye. “I want grandchildren.”

And with that, she’s gone.

Raihan buries his face in his hands with a groan, flushing red from the tips of his ears all the way down to his shirt.

“I hate her,” he mumbles into his palms. Leon just laughs and kisses him on the cheek.

He looks over at Hop and Victor and sees them smiling back at him.

“What now?” He asks.

The two boys glance at each other before Victor nods. Hop steps forward and holds a hand out to Leon, helping him up. Victor does the same to Raihan, the two of them eyeing each other warily. 

“Well,” Hop starts. “The kingdom was so distraught after you left that they rebelled and, in the ensuing chaos, Victor defeated Rose. They gave Momma her throne back, you know. You’re always welcome to come home.”

Leon takes a deep breath.

“I-I’m glad,” he says slowly, choosing his words carefully. “Mom deserves that throne more than anyone, and Galar’s better for having her back. And when she can’t rule anymore, I know I’m supposed to take the kingdom over. All my life I’ve had the people of Galar counting on me, and I’ve always felt that it was my duty to see their needs over mine.”

Leon glances over at Raihan and sees that the other man had his eyes glued firmly on the ground, his hands shaking slightly at his sides. 

“But that’s not me anymore. I don’t want to be a prince. I want to be true to what  _ I  _ want and I want-” He grabs Raihan’s hand and  _ squeezes _ . “I want to  _ stay here _ .”

There’s a moment of silence as Raihan’s head snaps up to stare at Leon in surprise before Hop nods like he expected this. 

“Promise you’ll at least visit?”

“Promise.” Leon nods.

Hop and Victor leave after a long hug and a wave goodbye, respectively.

As soon as they’re out of sight, Leon turns to Raihan, still holding his hand and tugs the other man closer.

Raihan wraps his arms around Leon’s shoulders and they stand there like that for a long time, simply enjoying each other’s presence.

“Can we go home now?” Leon asks, pulling away slightly. “I want to sleep for a thousand years.”

“Yeah,” Raihan breathes, looking at Leon like he hung the stars. “Home sounds  _ wonderful _ .”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahaha.......sorry about the temp character death y'all......but at least it was temporary right??? lol  
> anyway that's it for the main storyline. i have about 1k of an epilogue that i'll post in a sec. it's very soft and will definitely make up for whatever angst i have caused you in this chapter  
> consider it my apologies  
> love u!!!


	6. Epilogue

**Two months later:**

Raihan sits at the edge of Nessa’s pools and hums.

He thinks of Leon, because when does he not? He thinks of purple hair and golden eyes, of kind smiles and soft laughter. His heart aches in his chest and he huffs, annoyed at himself.

_ You’re a sap _ , he thinks.  _ You’re a sap and that’s what got you into this mess in the first place. _

He’d spent years,  _ years _ , secretly pining after someone he’d genuinely thought he’d hated. He’d  _ hated _ it, hated how easily the prince had thrown him away, how easily he’d seemed to move on. Hated how much it had hurt him to still be in love with Leon after everything that happened.

But he’d never hated Leon, simply didn’t have it in himself to do so. 

So he’d pined, silently,  _ achingly _ . Throughout his time as Opal’s right hand, his time as a dragon, and the ten years it took for Leon to come back to him.

When he’d first seen the figure tied to the rock, he’d thought he’d finally lost it. 

It’d been raining, so he hadn’t noticed right away, but as soon as he’d moved closer, intending to scare off whatever intruder had wandered into his terrority, the scent had hit him like a ton of bricks.  _ Leon’s _ scent.

He’d frozen in place, unable to move for the longest time. And then Leon had opened his eyes, confused, and Raihan suddenly felt like he could  _ breathe _ again.

After all that time, Leon still made him feel utterly alive.

And then Leon had gotten sick, and Raihan had needed to help, somehow, anyhow. He knew he couldn’t let Leon see him as a human, told himself it was because he didn’t need to be recognized, but really he was just scared. Terrified, really, of the idea that once Leon knew who Raihan was, what he’d become, he’d leave again.

So Raihan hid his identity, covered half his face with fae regalia, distanced himself from his dragon self, and told himself it was fine this way. He was wrong, of course- even temporarily blinding himself with his helm didn’t work, not with his heightened senses. The closer he got to Leon, the more he realized how much he  _ wanted _ the prince. How he longed to reach out and touch the other man, to feel his warmth, to see his smile with his face uncovered.

Something no one ever told him about dragons was how differently they experienced the world. Their sense of smell, their eyesight, their hearing, all of it was heightened, almost immeasurably more sensitive than the average human being. It was helpful, of course, to be able to pick out a single boar in the forest below when one was flying above the cloud line. It was not helpful to see every hitch of Leon’s chest when Raihan would move, every shiver, every wide-eyed look.

It nearly drove him mad.

Leon figured it out, because of course he would. He’d always had a habit of seeing right through Raihan anyway, not that he was complaining now.

“What are you thinking about?”

Raihan startles, slightly, and looks across the pool. Leon sits, mostly submerged, on a rock in the center of the water, watching him curiously. 

“You,” he answers truthfully, smiling, and watches with delight as Leon flushes red and smiles widely back. “Always you.”

“Sap,” Leon looks away, blushing, grinning from ear to ear.

They’re comfortably silent for a moment before Leon turns back to him, a sly look in his eyes.

“No,” Raihan says immediately, having a good idea of what his boyfriend wanted.

“Oh, c’mon, Rai,” Leon whines, pushing off of the rock and swimming over. “You promised you would eventually, so why not now?  _ Please _ ?”

Raihan groans as Leon gives him a pleading look, relenting almost immediately. Leon knew all the right buttons to press to get him to do what he wanted, that was for sure, and Raihan wasn’t even mad about it.

“Fine.”

Leon beams.

He strips down to his underwear quickly, resolutely ignoring the way Leon was staring at him, and slides into the water, sighing. Almost immediately, Leon climbs into his lap and presses a kiss to his cheek.

“You’re handsome.” he croons, nuzzling against Raihan’s neck.

“ _ You’re _ ridiculous,” Raihan hums, cupping Leon’s jaw and pressing their mouths together in a soft kiss. 

He never gets used to it, the feeling of kissing Leon. He’d dreamed about it for so long, since they were kids, practically, and it never measured up to the real thing, to the slow, easy slide of their lips against one another. 

He doesn’t miss being a dragon- kissing Leon feels so much like flying. 

They part slowly, and Leon leans his forehead against Raihan’s own and sighs dreamily.

“I love you, sweet dragon,” he murmurs, the words sparking something warm and lovely in Raihan’s chest. 

Raihan laughs softly and kisses Leon on the tip of his nose, the corner of his mouth, his cheek, his chin, his jaw, peppering him with kisses until Leon’s giggling and pushing him away.

“My prince,” he hums, catching Leon’s hand and pressing a kiss to his palm and to each of his fingertips. “My Champion, my knight, my  _ love _ .”

“Sap,” Leon says again, breathing out shakily and staring at Raihan with damp eyes. 

“Only for you,” Raihan tells him, feeling soft and soupy in his affection. Maybe it was from the heat of the water, maybe it was from his heart racing in his chest, maybe it was from how much he  _ loved _ Leon, he didn’t know. He felt like he was melting, a little bit. Like the person he’d tried to convince himself he had to be to survive was slipping away, bit by excruciating bit.

Leon laughs, a shaky thing, and buries his face in the junction of Raihan’s shoulder and neck. 

“I love you,” he says again, tears dripping down onto Raihan’s skin. “I’m sorry it took me so long to say it.”

“It’s okay,” Raihan whispers, holding him tight. “I love you. I forgive you.”

They don’t let go of each other for a very long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay this is it y'all. this is the end  
> thank you for all of your wonderful comments, even though i'm really bad at replying to them i see and appreciate every single one. thank you all so much.  
> this ones for y'all, i wasnt even planning on writing an epilogue but i thought y'all deserved one so here.  
> im soft bye
> 
> follow @basilwizard on twitter if u wanna talk raileon!!!!


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